A tree fell in front of a car that was unable to stop on International Golf Parkway at about 5:40 a.m. Friday. The driver and passenger were not injured, but International Golf Parkway was closed for about two hours for the car and tree to be removed.

A tree fell in front of a car that was unable to stop on International Golf Parkway at about 5:40 a.m. Friday. The driver and passenger were not injured, but International Golf Parkway was closed for about two hours for the car and tree to be removed.

That’s the word from Sara Chase, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jacksonville.

“Don’t put away those galoshes just yet,” Chase said. “We’re still in the middle of a nor’easter.”

Though a nor’easter this late in the season is rare, Chase said it isn’t surprising during what she called “an odd spring,” with heavy snowfall still hitting parts of the Midwestern United States.

St. Johns County got the brunt of the rainfall, far more than Duval, Chase said, with the highest amounts in Ponte Vedra Beach, which was reported at 6.92 inches on Friday. Hastings was next, at 5.96 inches.

Chase said Thursday and Friday’s combined rainfall total in St. Augustine was almost 9 inches by Friday afternoon, a record for this time of year. The measurements were taken at the Northeast Florida Regional Airport. For Friday alone, the total had reached 4 inches by 6 p.m. The previous record for May 3 was 1.08 inches in 2004, she said.

And there’s more coming this afternoon.

“It’s going to be wet again,” Chase said. “After a bit of a break late overnight, the rain chances will go back up by mid morning, and will be back around 60 percent by about 1 p.m.”

That may not be good news for the Gamble Rogers Music Festival, which canceled its Friday events at the Marina stage in downtown St. Augustine due to heavy rainfall. Festival organizer Paul Linser said Friday that today’s and Sunday’s events would go on as scheduled.

Other events postponed due to weather were today’s Plastic Bottle Boat Race at the St. Augustine Yacht Club, which will be rescheduled for a later date, and Canines for Warriors, an event planned by the Altrusa Club of St. Augustine.

The planned closure of the State Road 206 Crescent Beach Bridge this weekend for rehabilitative work was also canceled due to the weather. The closure is rescheduled for the following weekend, beginning 7:30 p.m. on May 10, and reopening at 5:30 a.m. on May 13.

Chase said the deluge should decrease significantly on Sunday, though there will still be a 40 percent chance of showers in the afternoon before dropping to around 20 percent by the evening and remaining that way through Monday. By Tuesday, residents can expect to see the sun again, she said.

The storm closed several area roadways due to flooding, but they had all reopened by about 1 p.m. Friday, said St. Johns County Sheriffs Office spokesman Chuck Mulligan.

“Everything’s open for now,” Mulligan said Friday evening. “Of course, there’s still going to be standing water in several locations, and drivers should continue to exercise extra caution. There’s a lot of saturation out there.”

Mulligan said there had been a few minor accidents, including two vehicles damaged Friday morning when trees fell across the roadway, first on Wildwood Drive, and later on International Golf Parkway. Neither driver was injured in those accidents, he said.

He also said that there had been several power outages in the county on Thursday and Friday, due to fallen power lines, including a live power line that fell on Treasure Beach Road on Friday afternoon that was “almost immediately” fixed by Florida Power and Light.

FPL spokesman Richard Gibbs said less than 90 customers in the St. Augustine area were still without power as of 9 p.m. Friday.

“We’re actively working to restore power to those customers, around the clock,” Gibbs said.

“We had events, yes, but nothing major,” Mulligan said. “When we see rainfall like this, we expect things like downed trees, power lines and the like. And we had that. But there were no injuries or fatalities related to the storm that we are aware of at this time.”

On Friday, area potato farmers were digging, trying to save what they could of their crops.

“The thing they don’t want to do is leave the potatoes in the ground and have the sun come out,” said Johnny Barnes of Johnny and Beanie’s Restaurant in Hastings. “With the water and the heat they cook in the field.”

Barnes spent the morning hearing from farmers, and said that irrigation ditches were full and in some areas slopping over onto the roadway. Some fields had turned into ponds overnight, he said.

The National Weather Service said a high rip current risk will remain in effect until late tonight at area beaches, with breakers of 5-7 feet expected through the weekend.

St. Johns County Marine Rescue is encouraging citizens and visitors to stay out of the water until conditions improve, and said that there will be limited beach patrol.

***

Today’s forecast (National Weather Service):

Afternoon: Overcast with a chance of rain, then a chance of a thunderstorm and rain showers in the afternoon. High of 75F. Windy. Winds from the East at 20 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph. Chance of rain 60% with rainfall amounts near 0.3 in. possible.

Evening: Partly cloudy with a chance of a thunderstorm and a chance of rain, then a chance of rain after midnight. Low of 64F. Breezy. Winds from the East at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Chance of rain 40% with rainfall amounts near 0.2 in. possible.

***

Record Rainfall

Sara Chase, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jacksonville, said Friday’s rainfall in St. Johns County, which had already exceeded 4 inches by late afternoon with rain continuing, was a record for this time of year. The measurements were taken at the Northeast Florida Regional Airport.

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I had to drive around town Friday, and everywhere I went FPL workers were out in the worst of it, trying to get the power back on. We recently had a transformer struck by lightning in my neighborhood and FPL was there and had it replaced in less then 50 minutes. We may complain about our bills, but they seem to be doing a good job overall. Way to go, FPL workers =)

would be nice, Refill all the lakes and ponds, restore the swamp, and flood out the yankee's who were sucker enough to buy from their own carpetbaggers who thought it would be a good idea to erect a development where there used to be a lake !